Buying Hunting Land Series: Navigating Land Inheritance

I got my land the old-fashioned way…

Bill and his brother John left the funeral home, and along with their families went over to John’s house to have some time together. They needed to talk about the situation they were put in with the death of their father. John lived on the farm in middle Georgia about 90 miles south of where Bill lived. Both were successful in their own way. The farm was a sprawling combination of irrigated and cultivated fields along with managed timber and a couple small lakes. There was a home on the farm big enough that the kids and grandkids had plenty of room to spread out. It wasn’t a fancy place, but it did have plenty of beds and a good kitchen and bathrooms. John lived on an acre or two out by the road, separate from the main acreage.

Their father bought the farm decades before at a tax sale. He had gotten it for a song compared to current land values. They rented out the land for cultivation and even had some peanut land and tobacco land which they were making better money on. Both men enjoyed hunting the woods and fishing in the ponds. Spending a few hours there washed away a lot of stress from their jobs in town. Both had come here as teenagers and knew every inch of the place. They had built permanent deer blinds, some even had heaters or a bed inside.

The two men and their families gathered at John’s home where friends and neighbors had brought over food as an act of kindness. John and Bill went out on the porch to talk about what to do now. The attorney had told them their father had set the farm up to be held by the two of them as equal shareholders, not to be divided or split up.

Bill said, “John, what do you want to do with the farm?”

John looked at him and said, “What, are you asking if I want to sell it?”

Bill said, “Well, yes, it is worth quite a bit of money and under the current tax laws it makes the most sense to do it now.”

John didn’t want to sell it, didn’t want to lose it to someone who didn’t have the decades of being involved on the farm to take it.

But Bill never was there, except for a few days here and there to deer or bird hunt. He didn’t have the tie to the land John had.

John spoke up, “I’ll buy you out.”

Bill was surprised, “OK, are you good having an appraisal?”

“Yes, let’s do that, and I’ll buy you out,” John said. And so it was done.

This happens more than we may realize. Of course, depending on what changes may be made in the current administration, handing down land may have a different face in the future. But currently, this happens—and it needs to be planned for. It is a difficult discussion sometimes. In fact, when I get a call from a grandparent or older landowner, they often say it is easier to divide money than land. That is true, but it is exceedingly difficult for some folks to ever acquire land of any size, so inheriting it often is the only way that may happen.

Are there any pitfalls for anyone in the chain of possession for giving or inheriting land? Remember, it is family. Is everyone in your family in the same political party? Do they all go to the same church, school or college? Does everyone hunt or fish or trap, or can they agree on a timber management plan or just never cut a tree?

The best way to consider this is to meet with the family members, and at first it should be done separately. See where their feelings or thoughts are across the group. Do it while you still have control of the farm—and your faculties. And once you hear from everyone who you think would have a say in anything, put your thoughts together. Then have a joint meeting to announce how you are going to handle it.

You tell the next generation how it is going to go—not the other way around.

If you intend to sell it and use the funds yourself and whatever is left over will be divided among the family, tell them that.

Of course, in the event you already inherited some land, it is time to consider all of your options for the future.